USD Magazine Fall 2026

Building the Region’s Energy IQ COLLABORATION IS ONLY PART OF THE EQUATION. TURNING AMBITIOUS CLIMATE GOALS INTO MEANINGFUL ACTION AT GLOBAL AND LOCAL LEVELS ALSO REQUIRES SAVVY NAVIGATION OF LAWS, REGULATIONS AND PUBLIC POLICY. USD’s Energy Policy Initiatives Center is at the forefront of

What began as a small network has

grown into a coalition of more than

Power and program sponsor Clean Energy Alliance. Each cohort of about 30 community leaders from local governments, nonprofits, utilities and private industry spends four days over the course of a

70 organizations representing local

At the Energy Academy, Darbi Berry

crafting innovative, science-driven policies that help tackle the most complicated energy and climate questions. EPIC’s interdisciplinary team of lawyers, engineers, engineer-attorneys, policy analysts

governments, universities, nonprofits,

’19 (MS), director of the San Diego Regional Climate

Climate Collaborative

Collaborative, gets a chance to feed one of the goats utilized by SDG&E for wildfire mitigation and brush management.

businesses and public

month learning how California’s energy system actually works. The academy delves into topics like navigating energy costs and equity and the energy burden, as well as climate change and energy resilience. Site visits complement classroom learning, providing insider access to places and people that bring the topics to life. Energy Academy participants heard from the fire meteorologist at the SDG&E emergency operations center, and visited the SDG&E grid operations center to learn about grid operations and outages. At the San Diego International Airport, they learned about electricity and jet fuel usage. “The academy isn’t designed to persuade participants toward Kurt Rustin, who was part of the first cohort, the Energy Academy has had a lasting impact on him and his business. “The Energy Academy is a powerful experience for energy novices and experts alike. You are immersed in the complex energy world around us and the classroom learning is masterfully blended with field trips to give you a complete particular policy positions. We want to give them a common foundation for understanding increasingly complex issues,” Anders said. “We want to raise the ‘energy IQ’ of the San Diego region.” For Watts on Water’s CEO perspective,” he said. “The program really helps foster new relationships between the diverse crowd of participants, and for me, many of those connections have led to new business opportunities.”

and law students works with governments and stakeholders to analyze proposed policies, develop greenhouse gas reduction strategies, draft ordinances and help communities translate ambitious climate goals into practical implementation. “The first question we ask is, ‘Who has authority to do what?’ You can come up with a great idea, but if nobody has the authority to implement it, it doesn’t matter,” said Scott Anders, executive director of EPIC, which was founded in 2005 and is based within the USD School of Law. In addition to policy work, EPIC also supports entrepreneurs developing clean-energy Southern California Innovation Energy Network, EPIC helps startups like Watts on Water, which is developing systems to install solar panels over canals and other water infrastructures. Also central to EPIC’s work is the San Diego Regional Energy Academy, a unique bootcamp where local leaders learn the ins and outs of the energy system so they can make more informed technologies and advises communities on issues ranging from building electrification to renewable energy deployment. Through its partnership with Cleantech San Diego and the energy-related decisions for their communities. The program is co-administered by EPIC and the Climate Collaborative, with additional support from foundational partners San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and San Diego Community

agencies throughout

San Diego County.

Climate change doesn’t recognize city limits. Extreme heat, wildfire smoke, flooding and sea level rise affect communities across the San Diego region, often in dramatically different ways. The stories are becoming increasingly familiar. El Cajon set new temperature records last March. Smoke from the devastating January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires sent air quality across San Diego County into unhealthy levels. And when a month’s worth of rain fell in just a few hours in January 2024, flash flooding along Chollas Creek triggered more than 200 water rescues. These are challenges no single city or organization can — or should — tackle alone. Working together will make everyone more effective, so the University of San Diego is fostering partnerships, sharing research and technical expertise and developing practical tools that communities can use to prepare for a changing climate. Through the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and USD’s Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC), USD connects and supports local governments, researchers, nonprofits, businesses and community organizations — turning collaboration into action.

The Climate Collaborative launched in 2011 when California cities were facing a new challenge. In the wake of California setting greenhouse gas emissions goals, communities across the state began developing their first climate action plans — but few local governments had experience with resilience planning, climate action or tackling greenhouse gas emissions. “A lot of our members found themselves developing that first round of climate action plans at the same time with no one who’s done it before to ask for advice,” said Darbi Berry ’19 (MS), director of the Climate Collaborative. “We wanted to make sure that none of them were spinning their wheels or reinventing the wheel. We created the Climate Collaborative so regional partners could come together, work together and help each other meet their goals.” USD played a pivotal role launching the Climate Collaborative and has served as its home for much of its history. The collaborative focuses on bringing people together and leading research efforts. It convenes working groups, connects organizations with funding opportunities, shares research and technical expertise and develops regional resources that communities can adapt to meet local needs. Over the past 15 years, that approach has helped communities develop climate action plans, coastal resilience strategies, regional adaptation roadmaps and collaborative grant proposals.

By Talya Sanders

An Energy Academy site visit to SDG&E brought attention to the important management of complex and critical electrical substations.

A trip led by John Alejandro, USD’s sustainability director, provided in-the field learning of the university’s massive

solar and battery storage upgrade.

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